Online automobile marketplace Droom currently has 100 management vacancies, of which the company wants 60% to be filled by women.

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India Inc is working hard to improve the gender diversity equation, especially at the top deck. Conglomerates such as Mahindra & Mahindra and Vedanta and e-commerce companies like Droom, among others, are seeking women to fill leadership roles. While gender parity is distant, some progress has been reported.

Executive search firms, including Egon Zehnder, say clients are increasingly rolling out roles exclusively for women. Others are insisting on having higher female representation when it comes to considering candidates for any mandate. Pallavi Kathuria, Managing Partner of Egon Zehnder’s India offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, says women-only searches are typically sought by multinationals with a global mandate to focus gender diversity. The Indian units of such companies are typically responding to expectations from the parent.

“Some of our global clients say that 50% of the slate needs to be diverse. There are others who say they will only look at a man if they cannot close in on a woman for the role,” says Kathuria.